Samsung in 2011: 'Beating Apple is #1 Priority'

We knew the rivalry between Samsung and Apple was bad, but it's sometimes surprising to see just how deep it goes. As a part of the latest patent trial between the two juggernaut tech companies, internal Samsung documents dating from 2011 have emerged (via Re/code and AppleInsider) that show that the Korean company considered beating Apple its top priority in 2012.

Samsung was working on expanding its Galaxy line at the time (and facing another patent trial with Apple), and as such the memo mentioned that the danger from Apple was "extremely real and urgent." What's more, "everything must be [in the] context of beating Apple" in the coming year.

Here's where all the problems about the Apple leaks we report on every week come into play. Samsung knew about many of the expectations for the iPhone 5 and predicted how it would perform. Also learning from Apple, the company emphasized focusing on Galaxy branding and working closely with both retailers and carriers.

Samsung decided to emphasize "continuous" branding campaigns in the style of the iPhone so that the "Galaxy Nexus rolls into Galaxy Note into GSIII." To get to the point where "customers walk into stores asking for Samsung," the company realized that it had to "understand why customers buy Apple" and then "develop countermeasures by carrier/retail."

And so it did. Samsung went on to kick off its "Next Big Thing" ad campaign in 2012 which put it into direct opposition with Apple (and, indeed, the opening remarks from Samsung claimed this was a successful strategy). Samsung specifically went after Apple in some of its ads, focusing on customers visiting Genius Bars or even waiting in line to buy an iPhone.